The Minnesota Timberwolves came into the weekend needing answers. A three-game skid had dropped them to seventh in the West, and the losses weren’t just piling up-they were unraveling late in games, a familiar and frustrating theme from last season.
Even more concerning? Not one of their wins had come against a team with a winning record.
That was about to be tested with back-to-back games against two teams above .500.
Fast forward 48 hours, and the Wolves just delivered their most encouraging stretch of the season.
Let’s start with the win over Boston. Yes, they nearly let it slip-giving up a 12-0 Celtics run late-but this time, they didn’t fold.
Instead, they punched back with a 6-0 run of their own, closing the door when it mattered. That’s growth.
That’s a team starting to learn from its mistakes.
Then came the second night of the back-to-back, this time against a surging San Antonio squad. Even without Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs had rattled off five wins in their last six, playing some of their best ball of the season. And early on, it looked like they might keep that momentum going.
Through three quarters, San Antonio had their way in the paint, racking up 52 points inside and 93 total before the final frame. De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs’ backcourt were slicing through the Wolves’ defense, and Minnesota couldn’t string together stops.
But the fourth quarter? That was a different story entirely.
Minnesota clamped down defensively, holding the Spurs to just six points in the paint and forcing them into 6-of-18 shooting in the quarter. The Wolves’ rotations were crisp, their communication tight, and the paint-once a freeway-turned into a wall.
And while the defense locked in, the offense caught fire.
The Timberwolves hit 17 of their final 24 shots, slicing up the Spurs’ defense with surgical ball movement. With Wembanyama out, San Antonio lacked an anchor in the middle, and Minnesota took full advantage. The ball didn’t stick, the spacing was clean, and the result was a 17-4 run that turned a tight game into a 14-point cushion with five minutes to go.
Anthony Edwards was, once again, the engine. He carried the Wolves through the first three quarters with a scoring clinic-32 points on 13-of-18 shooting, including four threes and six assists.
And while he only scored three in the fourth, that’s actually where his growth showed most. He didn’t force it.
He read the game, trusted his teammates, and let the offense flow. That’s superstar maturity.
With that performance, Edwards passed Karl-Anthony Towns for the most 30-point games in franchise history. He’s not just putting up numbers-he’s putting his stamp on the Timberwolves’ identity.
Julius Randle also stepped up in a big way. The veteran forward was a stabilizing force, dropping 22 points and dishing out 12 assists with just one turnover. He finished a team-best +30 in his 36 minutes on the floor, controlling the tempo and making the right reads all night.
The final score: 125-112, Wolves. A back-to-back sweep against two quality opponents, and perhaps more importantly, a sign that this team is starting to figure things out.
Now sitting at 12-8, Minnesota has a favorable stretch ahead-three straight games against the bottom two teams in the West. After an uneven start to the season, this weekend felt like a turning point.
The execution was sharper. The stars delivered.
The defense showed up when it mattered.
For the first time in a while, the Wolves look like a team ready to build something.